RDR: NO REGRETS - Chapter 261: Getting What He Wanted (Patreon)

“I guess he got what he wanted in the end.”

Charles stood there holding a torch, looking at the two corpses tangled together with a complicated expression.

The bodies belonged to Thomas and Wood.

Thomas had pinned Wood beneath him and buried a blade in his chest. He had even sunk his teeth into Wood’s neck and refused to let go.

As for Thomas, the cultists who rushed in afterward had hacked him into a bloody mess.

Even more absurdly, perhaps because the cultists were completely out of their minds from the opium, they had lost all sense of restraint.

While hacking Thomas apart, they had also chopped their own Archbishop to pieces.

It was certainly a fitting end for the two of them.

At that moment, a flash of gold caught Stephen’s eye.

He crouched down and used the scabbard of his long knife to push aside some chunks of flesh. Only then did he see what it was.

The golden revolver Wood had been carrying.

Now this was a fine prize. Stephen had been eyeing it ever since the first time he saw it.

He pulled the golden revolver from Wood’s hand and held it up for a closer look.

It was a Gold-Plated Cattleman Revolver. The old-fashioned frame had been coated in a full layer of gold, making the entire weapon gleam brilliantly in the firelight.

The cylinder was empty.

Apparently, before dying, Wood had fired every last round into Thomas.

It was certainly a nice collectible.

Stephen wiped the revolver clean and asked Charles, “Want it? It’s a pretty nice gun.”

Charles shook his head.

“You keep it. I don’t care for things like that.”

Stephen nodded.

That made sense. Charles had never been interested in flashy things with no practical purpose.

The man had always cared more about usefulness than appearances.

In that case, Stephen wasn’t going to turn it down.

He ejected the spent casings one by one, loaded fresh rounds into the cylinder, then happily slipped the revolver into his holster.

Now he had gotten what he wanted too.

Stephen turned back and glanced at what remained of Thomas, his expression filled with contempt.

“Even if he hadn’t died, I would’ve killed him myself.”

Stephen looked coldly at the scene before him.

“This so-called Church of the Holy Lord was rotten to the core from the very beginning.”

Judging by the conversation between Thomas and Wood, the practice of refining Holy Oil had been going on for a long time.

Considering Thomas’s relationship with Kyle, he had probably “enjoyed” that privilege plenty of times himself.

That alone was enough to make him a dead man in Stephen’s eyes.

Stephen had no problem with killing people, even people others might hesitate to lay a hand on.

But no matter what, there had to be a line a person would not cross.

Using children for something like that went far beyond it.

A vicious outlaw who had committed countless crimes might still have some chance of being spared.

These cultists deserved none.

Charles silently nodded.

Anyone capable of doing such things truly had no business remaining in this world.

He turned and looked around.

The entire square was littered with bodies.

Most of the cultists were already dead. Only a scattered handful were still breathing, lying among the corpses and moaning in agony.

As the effects of the opium gradually wore off, their sanity slowly began to return.

And along with it came fear and pain.

Only now did the survivors finally understand what had happened.

Not that it mattered anymore.

Charles was already walking toward them with his knife in hand.

Leaving wounded enemies alive was never a good habit, especially when those enemies were hopeless cultists like these.

“We should go.”

After finishing off the remaining survivors one by one, Charles looked around at the buildings, most of which had already burned nearly to the ground.

“The gunfire at the docks has stopped. We need to get back there.”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

Stephen nodded.

“But there’s still one more person.”

He led Charles into the church.

The little girl was still crouched on the floor, trembling and too frightened to move.

Stephen walked over, took her hand, and helped her to her feet.

Only now did he finally have a chance to get a proper look at her.

She was a cute little girl. With her golden hair, she looked almost like a doll.

Unfortunately, her small, thin body was covered in scars of every size.

The sight left both Stephen and Charles feeling uneasy.

“She’s the only one who made it.”

Stephen sighed softly, then asked, “What’s your name? How old are you?”

The girl was still trembling in the evening breeze.

Seeing that, Stephen quickly took off his coat and draped it around her shoulders.

She couldn’t exactly keep standing there naked.

The coat was covered in blood, but at least it gave her a warmth she hadn’t felt in a long time.

The girl raised her head and timidly glanced at Stephen before quickly lowering her eyes again.

“Alice. Alice Swanson. I... I’m ten.”

Alice.

That really was a nice name.

For some reason, Stephen suddenly thought of a certain female action hero from a movie in the future.

“Where’s your family?”

Stephen reached out and gently ruffled her messy hair.

“I mean, do you know where your home is?”

Alice said nothing.

She slowly turned her head toward one of the houses currently burning in the distance.

“I don’t have a home. That wasn’t my home.”

At that point, Stephen and Charles understood perfectly well what she meant.

Sure enough, becoming a parent required less qualification than anything else in the world.

Nothing else even came close.

“You can stay with me from now on.”

Stephen gave her a broad smile.

“My name is Stephen Johnson. I’m a bounty hunter.”

After introducing himself, he pointed at Charles behind him.

“That’s Charles Smith. Don’t let that serious face fool you. He’s actually a very gentle guy.”

“I’ve got some other friends too. They’re all good people.”

“Come on, smile. Stop looking so serious.”

Stephen nudged Charles with his elbow.

Charles helplessly shook his head and forced out a smile that somehow looked even worse than crying.

“Pfft!”

The sight immediately made Stephen burst out laughing.

Perhaps his laughter was contagious, because Charles soon started chuckling too.

Even Alice, who had been wearing a miserable expression the entire time, finally managed a faint smile.

“That’s better. You look much nicer when you smile.”

Stephen stood up and stretched comfortably.

“Come on. Let’s go meet up with the others.”

Taking Alice by the hand, Stephen turned and headed toward the docks.